The Safe & Sound Act Announced by Assemblymember Nazarian

On the 25th Anniversary of the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake, Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian announces the Safe & Sound Act to prepare California for the next big earthquake.

“We deserve a safe and sound California that can bounce
back quickly after the ‘big one’ hits, with limited loss of life and
property,” stated Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. “By proactively
protecting our infrastructure we will save lives, protect property, and
create jobs.”

30% Seismic Retrofit Tax Incentive

Legislation will establish a five-year 30% tax credit
for qualified costs associated with seismic retrofit for qualified
owners of an “at-risk property.” The tax credit is awarded upon
completion of seismic retrofit.

Other key components:

• Authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to administer the credit on a first-come, first-served basis, through a process of local certification.
• Provides that a municipality’s local agency with jurisdiction for building code and safety enforcement certify an “at-risk building” located within their area.
• Defines an “at-risk property” as a building that is deemed hazardous and in danger of collapse in the event of a major earthquake including but not limited to, soft story buildings, non-ductile concrete residential buildings, and pre-1980 concrete residential buildings.
• Provides what type of seismic retrofit construction qualifies under the credit to mitigate seismic damage.

The tax credit can be applied to personal income
tax or corporate taxes. Money is not directly taken out of the general
fund. It is however a realized loss from future general fund revenue the
state would have acquired absent this program. As an example, for every
$100 spent on seismic retrofit, there will be $30 in future revenue
loss to the state under this program for eligible recipients.

Strengthening Building Codes

Currently, state law only requires a building to protect
the loss of life, but not the loss of property. In the event of a major
earthquake, our buildings should withstand the earthquake, but could be
rendered uninhabitable. This would result in a massive loss of housing
throughout the earthquake zone, exacerbating our already dire housing
shortage in California.

Analyses of large earthquakes anticipated in Southern
California and the Bay Area predict that up to half of buildings built
to the current code will suffer enough damage to be flagged as dangerous
by local building departments. This represents trillions of dollars of
damage, displacement of people from their homes, and a significant
disruption to the regional economy.

“By strengthening our building codes we are proactively
preventing catastrophic property damage, economic disruption, and loss
of homes,” stated Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. “We are already dealing
with a severe housing crisis across Southern California. It’s just
common sense to make new buildings safer and stronger. Doing so will
ensure that we can get back to business as usual after a major
earthquake.”

Mapping Seismically Vulnerable Buildings

While some cities have started identifying vulnerable
buildings and implemented mandatory retrofits, large swaths of the state
have not identified vulnerable buildings.

“Mapping out our seismic vulnerabilities allows local
municipalities to be better prepared when an earthquake hits,” stated
Assemblymember Nazarian.

This bill would require city and county building
departments to create an inventory of potentially seismically vulnerable
buildings within their jurisdiction and submit it to the California
Seismic Safety Commission (CSSC). The legislation will:

• Develop criteria to identify seismically vulnerable building types.
• Direct building departments to develop an initial list of potentially vulnerable buildings.
• Build and maintain a statewide data repository of potentially vulnerable buildings.

An accurate statewide building vulnerability map is essential as
a first step in developing longer term solutions to mitigate the
effects of a large-scale earthquake and to protect our economy and
limited affordable housing stock.

The three bills had previously been vetoed by Governor
Brown. With new leadership in the Governor’s office, Assemblymember
Nazarian is cautiously optimistic that California will make earthquake
preparedness a priority before it is too late.

Adrin Nazarian represents the 46th Assembly
District, serving the San Fernando Valley communities of Hollywood
Hills, Lake Balboa, North Hills, North Hollywood, Panorama City, Sherman
Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Valley Glen, Universal City, Van Nuys,
and Valley Village.